Bluestone Energy Services helped Insports, an indoor sports and entertainment facility in Connecticut, install an energy savings lighting retrofit as part of an overall facility renovation. Bluestone replaced T5 fluorescent fixtures at the Trumbull, Conn., facility with Albeo ABHX LED Luminaires, a product distributed by GE Lighting. Bluestone also designed lighting controls, enabling Insports to fine-tune lighting levels based on occupancy, scheduling and day-lighting. The controls also allow Insports to monitor overall energy performance of the lighting. The project qualified Insports for the Energy Policy Act 2005 Federal Tax benefit.

In the coming months, Insports will be installing an Encon Solar 250 kW solar system on its roof that will provide about 60 percent of the power needs for the 108,000-sq-foot recreation center. Insports will also be installing a new building wrap system that will double its insulation value to reduce its energy consumption for heating and cooling.

The University of Rhode Island’s Thomas M. Ryan Center for college basketball will be illuminated by a new LED lighting system from Ephesus Lighting, replacing a metal halide lighting system that was installed when The Ryan Center was built in 2002. The new LED system is projected to reduce power consumption at the Ryan Center by over 80 percent and provide savings in maintenance costs over the next 10 years, while also improving the brightness on the court by more than 50 percent, according to Ephesus. The company says its LED optics and control system maintain constant color temperature over a full dim range and eliminate the flickering effect of other lighting systems that can be visible in High Definition broadcasting.